Individual experience and unconscious in the construction of image

With the acceleration and new formation of the psychoanalytic thought at the beginning of the 20th century, psyche has been explored in depth and reflections of many unconscious occasions on the lives of people and on arts have been discovered. Artists discovering these reflections created a new language by reflecting their knowledge and experiences on their work through "transmission" which is a means of expressing feelings and thoughts, and presented the images they formed with this new language. This thesis addresses the reflections of unconsciousness - an integral part of the artist's personality and used in the construction of images - on the works of art. This research stems from Donald Kuspit's ideas defining unconsciousness as inner world. Further, inner world is based on experiences, i.e. a sum of memories and impressions. This sum forms the self, which gives a meaning to the individual, makes up him/her and renders him/her unique. The primary formations of the self develop during the childhood and all experiences in this period occupy a large portion of the personality/ unconsciousness. At this point, Freud's ideas about the unconsciousness have been taken as basis. Nothing we have experienced or felt is forgotten and, gain a place/leave a trace in our mind. Following these traces, it is understood that all together come up as narratives. One needs to form and develop narratives to make his/her life meaningful. Unconsciousness plays a crucial role in the formation of these narratives. An artist recreates what he/she feels in the depth of his/her inner world. In this regard, opinions of Dr Hanna Segal about art have been referred to. In the practices under this thesis, a life story linking the events, taking place in the past and felt to have finished, with the present has been created and certain unconscious factors affecting this story have been addressed. Key words: Art, image, experience, unconsciousness, dialogue, loss and mourning